Sterling ConnectApplication · Ibm

CVE-2012-6352

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-02-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Session Manager in IBM Sterling Connect:Direct through 4.1.0.3 on UNIX allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash and disk consumption) via crafted data.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The Session Manager component in IBM Sterling Connect:Direct versions through 4.1.0.3 on UNIX platforms contains a vulnerability where remote attackers can send specially crafted data packets to cause the daemon to crash and consume disk space, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade to a version beyond 4.1.0.3 when available. In the interim, restrict network access to the Connect:Direct Session Manager port using firewalls or access control lists, and implement disk monitoring alerts to detect unusual consumption.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Sterling ConnectApplication
Affected:= 4.1.0.0= 4.1.0.1= 4.1.0.2= 4.1.0.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed version of IBM Sterling Connect:Direct
    Run the command that displays the Connect:Direct version (typically 'cdver' or check the installation directory for version files). Compare the output to the affected range 4.1.0.0 through 4.1.0.3.
    Affected if The installed version is 4.1.0.0, 4.1.0.1, 4.1.0.2, or 4.1.0.3 on a UNIX platform.
  2. Confirm the operating system platform
    Run 'uname -a' or 'oslevel' to verify the system is a UNIX variant (AIX, Solaris, Linux, HP-UX).
    Affected if The system is running any UNIX operating system.
  3. Determine if the Session Manager component is enabled
    Check the Connect:Direct configuration for Session Manager settings, typically found in the initialization parameters or configuration files. Look for 'Session Manager' or 'SMGR' entries.
    Affected if The Session Manager component is enabled and running.
  4. Locate the Session Manager port configuration
    Examine the Connect:Direct configuration files or run commands to display network port bindings. Session Manager typically uses a specific TCP port (commonly 1364, but verify in your configuration).
    Affected if A Session Manager listener port is configured and active.
  5. Review disk space usage in the Connect:Direct directories
    Check for unusual growth in log directories, particularly in areas where crash dumps or error logs are written. Use 'df -h' on Connect:Direct filesystem mount points and 'du -sh' on log directories.
    Affected if Disk consumption is abnormally high in Connect:Direct data or log directories.

You are affected if IBM Sterling Connect:Direct version 4.1.0.0, 4.1.0.1, 4.1.0.2, or 4.1.0.3 is installed on a UNIX system with the Session Manager component enabled and network accessible.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a version beyond 4.1.0.3 when available. In the interim, restrict network access to the Connect:Direct Session Manager port using firewalls or access control lists, and implement disk monitoring alerts to detect unusual consumption.

Fix this in Sterling Connect Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-6352 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-6352 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data